South Africa in a complex global order: How and where to fit in?

Is there a preferred way forward for South African foreign policy in the context of the contemporary state of global order? Can such a path be taken in what is evidently a fluid global order context? If power alone does not determine leadership in this revised global order, especially in the context of middle, secondary or emerging powers, is a diplomatic path to South African leadership at some level possible? Does South African politics today and in the near future permit such a path? In addressing these questions, the article provides analysis at the global level, setting out the changed and further changing global order. It then delves into the role of middle or emerging and secondary powers focusing on the G20, as well as considering South Africa as a member of the G20 and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), its role on the African continent, and finally, the possibility and promise of South Africa bearing ‘multiple identities’ in its foreign policy strategy going forward.